Hi everyone, This is a tough question to formulate, so I hope it makes sense to you all. Here is the short version (skip the rest of the post if you’d like): I want to get more excited about collecting white wines, and would like to hear your thoughts. How do I get more excited about whites?
Here’s the background. I love reds and whites both. Somehow, I’ve found that I drink way more whites, but for some reason get more excited about reds. So I buy more reds, drink more whites, and now CellarTracker tells me I have over 3X as many reds as whites. I want to even this out and I think the way to do it is to get more excited about whites- help me!
Part of it is that I’ve run into issues with many categories whites, at least for my personal palate (and wallet!). US Chardonnays can be nice, but are too often overblown for my taste. White Burgundies are so expensive and so many of them (probably 2/3 to ¾) have been either underwhelming or overtly flawed. Rieslings can be great, but I’m just not in the mood for a Riesling most of the time. Champagne is great of course, but I’m often enjoying wine solo and it usually won’t keep for more than a day or two. I’m very sensitive to that cat smell, which makes Sauv Blanc a minefield. Chenin can be good, I’m not super experienced with it, but haven’t been taken yet by any of the higher end stuff.
And yet, like I said, I drink white wine at least twice as often as reds. I drink and enjoy all sorts of whites- I just haven’t felt whites to be as compelling. Thoughts?
Oregon Chardonnay. Specifically, Goodfellow and Walter Scott that have real first hand experience with. There are a few others that many here love from Oregon.
You could also do the Blanc de Blanc from Goodfellow. Wine crack I think is what some buyers call it.
As someone who has cellared a fair number of white wines, my opinion is that it’s generally not worth it. I can pretty reliably buy a young white and have an excellent wine for its price. It won’t likely be transcendent. If I age a white, I’d guess I have about a 30% chance of it being better than the young wine, and that assumes I chose well with respect to aging potential. With red wines my results are more like 80%. So more and more I’ve moved to treating whites as DYA and my actual cellar is made up of reds.
Having said this, if you get a good 1er Cru white Burgundy with about 20 years of age, they can be amazing.
White Bordeaux? Dry and sweet. I don’t have much direct experience, but I understand that many of the Cru Classe whites require significant aging. I have had a few from a lower tier like Clos Floridene that were too oaky at 5 yoa.
When I was buying wine from Merryvale (St Helena) I was quite taken by their Sauvignon Blanc. Lots of tropical fruit, no cat pee. The oak was well aligned with the fruit, adding coconut and vanilla.
It’s like I tell my stepson: just wait - you’ll (probably) grow up eventually.
Seriously, though, while many whites can benefit from a little age, and most can take more than you think, many don’t need it. Stop worrying. If you are already drinking lots of whites, you’re doing the right thing. Keep exploring, there are plenty of regions left to try, and trust your palate. While suggestions might lead you to new regions, nothing anyone says here is going to help you find white wine more compelling if you don’t.
A phrase which keeps going through my head this summer is: “I must drink more Italian white wine”. Are there producers and (especially) suppliers you would particularly recommend?
Interesting thread to me as I am increasingly more excited about white wines than reds. My top wines of the past few years have been white wines. Riesling, Trebbiano, Gruners, Oregon Chards. Joe’s comments on Italian whites is right on.
Living in the south has pushed my hand a bit as May through Sept I drink almost exclusively white and sparkling wine as reds just don’t make much sense when it’s 90 and humid every day.
I also find whites to be more flexible with a variety of foods which leads to less pressure about wine pairings and so on.
Also, Ian d’Agata is a great guide to the region. Both of his recent books on Italian grapes include specific recommendations in addition to more detail than any mortal should attempt to absorb.
Good advice again from Joe. I didn’t dig through that thread he posted to see if Tiberio is mentioned. But definitely Tiberio. And Pieropan. And Manni Nossing. And if to a little further under the radar: Amorotti, the baby Valentini.
Thing is even if you start cellaring more NOW, you have to wait for a few years to see if you made the right decision.
That said, go buy some Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnay and throw them in the cellar. Buy some Enfield chard and drink some now and cellar the rest. Grab some great Alsace whites and roast some pork and apples and swoon. Grab some Georges Vernay Condrieu and blow your socks off then hide a few in the back of the cellar to forget about for 12 years.
This. Don’t be so quick to write off three of the greatest white wine regions in the world!
Alsace is an incredible source for ageworthy whites, on par with white Burgundy at a fraction of the price. Riesling, Pinot Gris, and Gewurtztraminer. The vineyard classification system is similar to Burgundy, so use a similar approach to exploring the wines. Start with the best producers, like Zind-Humbrecht and Domaine Weinbach, and the best vineyards, like Clos Windsbuhl and Rangen de Thann Clos Saint Urbain.
German wines are also incredibly ageworthy. No experience with older Austrian wines, but the young stuff is pretty great!
